Living Life to the Fullest .......................(Don't Give Life the Closet Test)

My mother and I are very much the same…..we are best friends … we look similar, have similar tastes, and sometimes  even think or act the same way.  However, we also have a few differences, including the following …whenever my mother buys a new outfit, she insists on giving it “the closet test” for a while before she wears it out in public.  I, on the other hand, do not have this same attitude ... when I buy a new outfit, I wear it as soon as I get the chance – I never  give my clothes the closet test!

 

In fact, I rarely give ANYTHING the closet test.  For example, we have a number of sentimental quilts in our house.  The majority of these quilts were made by my mother-in-law, Judy Kleve, and some were made by my husband’s Grandma Humpal, my Grandma Bohr, my Grandma Einck, and my mother, Annette Bohr-Wiltgen.  The most special quilt on the rack, is the quilt that my Grandma Bohr made for my brother Adam.  He  used the quilt in the last years and months of his life; and when he died, the quilt was given to my daughter, Karissa, as a special remembrance of Adam.  I could keep all of these quilts behind a glass case or somewhere to keep them in perfect condition forever.  However, I choose to use most of them … at least once in a while.  I am absolutely not saying that these quilts should be used outside or used for a picnic or even used while eating a midnight snack ... but they are meant to be snuggled in … the smell of them breathed in … and dreams should be dreamed while sleeping beneath them.  These quilts, although special in their own rights, have much more meaning knowing that some were used to snuggle my children while reading them a story, some were spread across the couch as our family shared a movie night, one adorns the bed as my husband and I spend the night together, my children are each protected by their own as they sleep each night, and one still carries the ever-fading scent of my brother who lived beneath his quilt while I shared in his last days … these are all moments to be cherished and remembered when hanging on to these quilts!

  

In my opinion, life, itself, should be lived this same way.  Not only do I treat my material things this way, but I live my entire life with this attitude.  Life is meant to be taken to heart and lived to the fullest.  I believe in getting my feet wet (even if wearing new shoes); diving into a pool filled with my biggest dreams; and rolling around in the midst of life (or in the leaves with my children in the back yard).  To me, every moment  in life is meant to be tasted …drank to the very bottom of the glass, savoring every drop … and it is meant to be devoured with the biggest piece first!

Of course there are a few parts of life, that are simply meant to be cherished for their beauty … the painting my mother created that hangs on my wall, the pottery that my children made for me in class, and the handcrafted, blue candle that my brother Rob and his wife, Jessica carried home from their trip to Debrovnik, Croatia, especially for me.  I would never dream of burning that candle!  Yes, some things are truly meant to be held on to purely for their exquisiteness … to remind us just how fragile and precious our lives really are!  For one day, our own candles will have burned out, but if we remember to live our lives to the fullest, we will leave behind an amazing aroma of memories to live on for years to come!